Iran-France relations
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| ██ Iran | ██ France |
This article details Iran-France relations from the Qajar Era to modern times.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Iran, previously known as Persia until 1935 has generally enjoyed a friendly relationship with France since the Middle Ages. Recently, relations have soured over Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment and France supporting the referral of Iran to the Security Council.
[edit] Qajar Era
Treaty of Finkenstein belongs here
[edit] Pahlavi Era
[edit] Islamic Republic of Iran
[edit] Economic
With 6.25% of the market share in exports to Iran, France was Iran’s sixth-leading supplier in 2005.[1] Iran is France’s 27th customer (its third-leading customer in the Middle East). Fifty-five percent of French exports are concentrated in the automotive sector. French companies are also very active in the oil industry, rail and shipping transport, and the financial sector. For the most part, imports from Iran are crude oil. Altogether, 3% of French hydrocarbon imports come from Iran. A reciprocal agreement protecting and encouraging investment signed by the French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade on 12 May 2003 in Tehran came into force on 13 November 2004. Iran’s Minister of Commerce, Mr. Mohammad Shariat-Madari, made an official visit to France from 20 through 23 January 2004. The French Secretary of State for Transport and the Sea, Mr. François Goulard, went to Iran on 20 June 2004, on the occasion of the resumption of Air France’s Paris-Tehran flights. The nuclear issue will determine any changes in the business climate in Iran. France and its European partners have emphasized to Iran the promising prospects that would result from a negotiated solution. However, the present worsening of the nuclear crisis could damage France's economic cooperation with Iran in the long run.
[edit] Political
The most recent bilateral visits of political leaders occurred during the first half of 2005:
- The French President and the Minister received the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Hojatoleslam Hassan Rohani, on 24 February 2005.
- President Khatami met with the French President in Paris on 5 April 2005, on the sidelines of a conference at UNESCO, where he gave an address on the dialogue between civilizations. The Minister received his Iranian counterpart, Mr. Kamal Kharazi, who was accompanying the Iranian President.
- Mr. Xavier Darcos, the Minister Delegate for Cooperation, Development and Francophony, went to Tehran and Bam on 22-23 May 2005.
The successive declarations made by the Iranian President promoting the destruction of Israel and negating the Nazi genocide have been strongly condemned by the French President. Iran’s ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 27 October 2005 regarding this matter. The French government has expressed its concerns to the Iranian government about the human rights situation in Iran. On 12 December 2005, the Prime Minister awarded the French Human Rights Prize to the wife of Emadeddin Baqi, an Iranian dissident who fights for prisoners’ rights and against the death penalty in Iran. In the context of its policy supporting defenders of human rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Iranian chargé d’affaires to Paris in August 2005 to express its concerns regarding the fate of journalist, Akbar Gandji, and his lawyer, Mr. Soltani (who was awarded the French Human Rights Prize in December 2003 on behalf of the Human Rights Defence Centre, of which Ms. Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is the President).
Iran’s Ambassador in Paris, Mr. Sadegh Kharazi, ceased to hold office on 22 November 2005. His successor has yet to be named.
[edit] Cultural Scientific & Technical
Cooperation relations are managed in the context of the general arrangement of 14 September 1993 and the cultural arrangement of 31 January 1999. Four priorities have been established:
- The promotion of inter-university partnerships and advanced French training. France is the sixth-leading country in terms of hosting Iranian scholars. Actions supporting university cooperation conducted by the embassy in Tehran (welcoming and guiding students, improving language skills, providing networking opportunities with former scholars) are to be grouped together in a centre for university information and exchange.
- Increased French instruction in Iran’s secondary and higher education. Several public secondary schools in Iran offered French classes in Autumn 2003.
- The promotion of scientific partnerships (seismology, biology, environmental sciences, town planning, human and social sciences, veterinary medicine) in compliance with the rules of vigilance and with Iranian co-financing. A two-year integrated action programme (called “Gundishapur”) ended in July 2004.
- Bidirectional development in cultural dialogue. The embassy provides volunteer translation and publication services and organizes cultural and scientific events. The French Research Institute in Iran is the only foreign research centre authorized to take part in disseminating information about Persian culture and Iranian culture.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Persia and Napoleon - A Lecture by Ambassador Iradj Amini
- Farhad Sepahbody - Accounts of French-Iranian relations
